#32 David Tepper

Education: BA, University of Pittsburgh; MBA, Carnegie Mellon University

Tepper, who runs a $12 billion distressed-debt hedge fund, has one of the best long-term track records. In 2012, he was up 30%, while a lot other funds struggled to find alpha. He was also the best paid hedge fund manager last year.

Dougan got a 34% raise in 2012, taking home $8.2 million. In 2011 he took a 69% pay cut, taking home $3.3 million. The bank's board pointed out in its annual report that year that he was "taking real and direct accountability" for the bank's lackluster earnings and share performance.

Outside of the office, he's a marathoner with a passion for long distance running. We hear that he's also frequently spotted lifting weights in the morning at the bank.

#26 Michael Novogratz

Before going into finance, Novogratz served as a helicopter pilot in the U.S. Army. Outside of work, he runs non-profit Beat the Streets, which builds wrestling programs in New York City public schools.

She also predicted a wave of muni bond defaults during a "60 Minutes" interview back in 2010. That hasn't happened.

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#24 J. Kyle Bass

Reuters

Age: 43

Firm: Founder, Hayman Capital Management

Education: BA, Texas Christian University

The Texan hedge fund manager, who has been looking more trim in recent years, famously bet against the subprime housing market. His most recent bearish bet has been Japan. He's been predicting a debt collapse there for some time.

Back in November, the Financial Times reported that Lagrange does not pick stock for GLG. He's more of the face of the fund. "I see myself as a coach, as a capital and asset allocator [to his team of analysts] and as a devil's advocate," Lagrange told the FT.

The long-haired Belgian hedge funder separated from his wife a couple years ago and started a relationship with male fashion designer Roubi L'Roubi.

#22 Whitney Tilson

Mike Segar/REUTERS

Age: 46

Firm: Kase Capital (Previously co-managed T2 Partners)

Education: BA, MBA, Harvard University

Tilson is a connector who brings people in the hedge fund world together. He's the chairman emeritus of the Value Investing Congress, which features speakers like David Einhorn, Barry Rosenstein and Bill Ackman. He is the co-founder of the Value Investor Insight newsletter and he just published his book The Art of Value Investing.

Tilson is a leader in the education reform space. After graduating from college, he helped launch Teach For America and he's involved in a number of education reform groups. He's also involved in charities that focus on Africa. He spent much of his childhood in Tanzania and Nicaragua.

#20 Elena Ambrosiadou

She recently went through a divorce and then won the battle for the rights to the hedge fund's secret trading algorithm. Even though her ex-husband actually wrote the software when he was an employee at the fund, the judged ruled that it belongs to IKOS, which Ambrosiadou still runs, according to Bloomberg News.

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#19 Jason Ader

REUTERS/Keith Bedford

Age: 44

Firm: Founder and CEO, Ader Investment Management

Education: BA, MBA, New York University

Ader sits on the Board of Directors of Las Vegas Sands Corp., a developer of destination properties, that owns resorts in Las Vegas, Macau, and Singapore. He helped open up Macau's casino market in the 1990s.

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#18 Paul Arrouet

Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

Age: 42

Firm: Managing Partner, Marblegate Asset Management

Education: BA, University of Pennsylvania

Arrouet manages Marblegate Asset Management with Andrew Milgram, who "together have over 25 years of distressed and high yield credit investment experience across multiple credit cycles," according to the firm.

Before Marblegate, Arrouet was a senior managing director at Bear Stearns for almost 12 years.Arrouet plays squash, and is married to Dylan's Candy Bar owner and daughter of Ralph Lauren, Dylan Lauren.

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#17 James Dinan

Age: 54

Firm: Founder, York Capital Management

Education: BA, University of Pennsylvania; MBA, Harvard University

The billionaire hedge fund manager began his career on Wall Street at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette.

The billionaire hedge fund manager is married to Eva Andersson-Dubin, an internist and breast cancer survivor who was crowned Miss Sweden in 1980. Together, they donated $16 million to found the Dubin Breast Center at Mount Sinai Medical Center. Dubin also dated Bianca Jagger, Mick Jagger's first wife, in the early 1980s.

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#15 Jamie Dimon

Dimon, who has been referred to as "Obama's favorite banker," successfully guided his bank through the financial crisis. However, he tripped up when he referred to media reports about the "London Whale" trade as a "tempest in a teapot." That derivatives trade lost JPMorgan's CIO office in London billions.

Since then, Dimon has been criticized and people were calling for him to be stripped of his chairman role. He ended up winning the shareholder vote, though.

#12 Geraldine Sundstrom

Education: Université Paris Dauphine; Birkbeck College at London University

Sundstrom is the portfolio manager for the Brevan Howard Global Emerging Markets Strategies.

She first started working in emerging markets at Citigroup. Three years later, Louis Bacon's Moore Capital hired her and made her a portfolio manager. She generated positive returns in 2008 while a lot of emerging market funds got annihilated.

#9 Alexandra Lebenthal

Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images

Age: Unavailable

Firm: President and CEO, Lebenthal & Company

Education: BA, Princeton University

Alexandra Lebenthal is known for being an amazing networker and she's incredibly well-connected on the Street. She's also the recruiter for Wall Street's secret society Kappa Beta Phi, according to Fortune.

Hobson has been dating renowned film director George Lucas since 2006. The two got engaged earlier this year, and were married on June 22.

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#4 Frederic Oudéa

AP Photo

Age: 49

Firm: CEO, Société Générale

Education: École Bationale d'Administration; École Polytechnique

Oudéa served a brief stint as Nicolas Sarkozy's technical advisor before joining Société Générale in 1995. In just eight years he rose from the head of SocGen's corporate banking arm in London to the top of the company as deputy CFO, and was named CEO in 2008.

The Frenchman has backpacked across Canada, Burma, and Nepal with Stéphane Richard, Christine Lagarde's former chief of staff and current president of France Telecom.

#2 Louis Bacon

Not only is Bacon regarded as top global macro trader, but an industry source tells us that the North Carolina native is a "true gentleman."

Last year, Bacon returned $2 billion of his flagship fund's investor capital citing opportunities for his fund's strategy being constrained. It was a difficult environment for many funds to find alpha. By giving back investor money, he really showed how much integrity he had. Hedge fund managers make their money off of fees—typically "2 and 20." So giving back 25% of the fund's assets under management for the flagship fund is a really big deal.

Bacon is also active on the charity and environmental conservation circuit.